Chaos Theory
by Rogue-Slayer13
Summary: The world's being thrown into chaos and it seems like everything that the gang Scoobies and AI have worked so hard to make is coming apart at the seams. Can they get it together in time to prevent the apocalypse? *Revised*
1. Been Here Before

Chaos Theory

Chapter 1: Been Here Before

By: Rogue-Slayer13

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Btvs or Ats, they belong to Joss Whedon.

Summary: The world's being thrown into chaos and it seems like everything that the gang (Scoobies and AI) have worked so hard to make is coming apart at the seams. Can they get it together in time to prevent the apocalypse?

Note: I decided to revamp this fic cause it was kinda sucky. Some things you need to know: Cordelia woke up from her mystical coma earlier, Angel isn't working with the Circle of The Black Thorn yet, Fred is still herself, and Buffy's not with the Immortal.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Spike leaned against the lamp post and stared at the apartment building across the street with increasing annoyance. The demon that Angel insisted Spike keep tabs on had spent the entire night so far, watching TV and eating Cherry Garcia ice cream.

"Bloody do something already!" Spike growled quietly to himself as he stared up at the second floor apartment he was supposed to be watching.

Spike watched as the demon continued his channel surfing activities, until finally he got fed up and decided to go back to Wolfram & Hart.

_Dangerous demon my arse_. Spike thought as he took out a cigarette and lit it with his trusty Zippo. _The only thing that bloke's a danger to is a pint of ice cream_. Spike took a few more drags off his cigarette, before stubbing it with his toe and continuing on his way.

He was about half way back to Wolfram & Hart when a scream tore through the air. Spike, eager for a bit of violence hurried in the direction of the scream, which was coming from a nearby alley. When he rounded the corner into the alley, he was greeted with a punch to the face by an all too familiar hooded figure.

"Not you blokes again," Spike commented as he headed butted the Bringer that punched him.

The Bringer went stumbling back into a nearby wall and Spike took this opportunity to get his dagger away from him. The Bringer got back to its feet and lunged at Spike, only to be done in by its own weapon. Spike turned his attention to the remaining three Bringers who were trying to overpower a struggling girl.

Spike grabbed the nearest Bringer by the back of its robe and tossed it into a pile of crates. This caused the other two Bringers to cast aside the girl and turn their attention to Spike. The two Bringers grabbed a hold of Spike's arms while the one he threw into the crates got back to its feet and lunged at the vampire. Spike let the two Bringers holding his arms support his weight, while he kicked the attacking Bringer under the jaw hard enough that it snapped its neck. Spike quickly freed himself from the two remaining Bringers and dispatched them relatively quickly before turning his attention to the girl.

"You all right?" Spike asked as he offered a hand to help the girl get to her feet.

"I'm fine, just a little shake–" The girl stopped mid sentence when she looked up at Spike. "Oh my God, _Spike_?" Vi's eyes widened and she looked like she'd just seen a ghost, which was almost true.

"Vi?" Spike cocked his head sideways and looked at the girl. "What the bloody 'ell are you doing here? I thought you'd be with the Scoobies gettin' trained and what not."

"I was visiting my parents and I had a lay over here on my way back to London," replied the girl as she picked her hat up off the ground and dusted it off. "What's going on here anyway?"

"Hell if I know," Spike replied as he let out a sigh and began to smoke another cigarette.

The two stood in silence in the alley for a moment until a noise drew their attention to the far end of the alley.

"What was that noise?" Vi asked quietly.

"I don't know, but we better go," Spike replied as he took Vi by the arm and lead her out of the alley. "The last thing we need is for the bloody Ray Charles brigade to catch up to us."

"Is there some place we can go?"

"Think I might know of one." Spike walked in the direction of Wolfram & Hart.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Giles had just finished informing Buffy that Vi never made it back to London when he thought he heard a noise outside.

"Is anyone there?" Giles called as he got to his feet.

Just then the lights went out, enveloping the building in total darkness. This was followed by the emergency generator kicking on and the red back up lights coming on, which filled the building with an eerie glow. Giles made his way to the librarian's office and looked around for a flashlight and perhaps a weapon. He found a flashlight in the desk and took a short sword out of the weapons' cabinet. Giles was about half way to the door leading out of the library when the sound of glass shattering, followed by girls screaming could be heard. Giles broke into a run and covered the distance between him and the door in a relatively short time.

The hallway outside was utter chaos. Several of the windows had been broken and girls were running in every direction, making it hard for Giles to find the source of the problem. The answer was made obvious when a robed figure came out of the shadows and lunged at Giles. The Bringer knocked Giles to the ground, causing him to hit his head on the floor. Giles looked up and watched as the Bringer moved in for the kill before everything went black.

Buffy hung up her cell phone after talking to Giles and headed up the stairs toward the apartment she shared with Dawn and unfortunately Andrew. As she reached the top of the stairs, she immediately knew something was wrong. For starters the apartment door was ajar and all of the lights were turned off, not to mention the fact that her Slayer senses were going crazy. Buffy reached into her patrol bag for a weapon and decided that a dagger was the more universal choice.

The Slayer walked into the living room to find it completely trashed with Dawn and Andrew lying sprawled in the middle of it all. Buffy rushed over to Dawn's side and was relieved to see that she was just knocked out. She was about to check on Andrew when something grabbed her by the hair, hauling her to her feet causing her to drop her weapon. Buffy managed to get loose and spun around to see who had grabbed her, only to come face to face with a Bringer.

"What the hell?" Buffy exclaimed in shock as she dodged a punch aimed for her face. "How many times do I have to kill you guys before you get the message?" The Bringer's only response was to stare blindly at Buffy. "Right, you're more the silent, but deadly type. I hate that in a guy." Buffy launched an attack of her own and nailed the Bringer with a snap-kick to the face.

The Bringer stumbled back and the Slayer didn't give him a chance to regain his composure, instead she followed up with a roundhouse kick that sent the Bringer flying across the living room. The Bringer was only down for a few seconds before it got back up and went after the Slayer. Buffy dodged its first couple of attacks, but it managed to catch Buffy off guard with an elbow to the face. Buffy stumbled back a few steps and tripped over Andrew's still prone form.

The Slayer cracked her head on the coffee table on the way down and the Bringer took the momentary disorientation that this provided to pin her to the floor. The Bringer pulled out its dagger, but Buffy managed to buck it off before he could strike. The Bringer moved toward Buffy, but she was ready for it this time and she grabbed a hold of its arm and used its own momentum to send it into a nearby wall. Buffy took this opportunity to pick her own dagger up off the floor. The Slayer turned around just as the Bringer lunged for her. Buffy felt her blade sink into the gut of the Bringer, and with one final twist she removed the blade and watched the Bringer fall to the floor dead.

Buffy dropped her dagger onto the floor and rushed over to Dawn and Andrew, who were already coming too.

"Are you guys all right?" Buffy asked as she kneeled in front of the two.

"Yeah, it's just a flesh wound," Andrew commented, which only earned him an eye roll from the two girls.

"I really don't think this is the time for Monty Python," Dawn said as Buffy helped her to her feet.

"Sorry," Andrew apologized as he got to his feet as well.

"Are you sure you guys are okay?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, they just took us by surprise is all," Dawn replied.

"All right, well pack your bags," Buffy stated as she headed toward her bedroom.

"What for?" Dawn asked as she and Andrew followed the Slayer down the hall.

"Vi never made it back to London," Buffy informed as she began to fill her suitcase full of clothes and shoes. "Giles wants us on the earliest flight we can find, and having my home broken into by Bringers just makes me want to get out of here all the more."

"I'll go get my stuff ready," Dawn said as she turned and left the room.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Spike walked into Angel's office to find the entire gang scattered throughout the room going over case files. Vi tensed up slightly and took a step close to Spike upon seeing Lorne.

"Some Slayer," Spike remarked quietly to himself as he and Vi walked into the office.

"Spike, what the hell are you doing here?" Angel asked in annoyance. "I thought I asked you to keep tabs on that Morkampf demon."

Spike narrowed his eyes and gave Angel an angry glare at the mention of the demon whom in Spike's opinion, he'd wasted a perfectly good evening watching. "Let's not mention what a bloody waste of time that was," Spike said. "Besides, we've got bigger problems to deal with right now."

"Yeah, like who's the pretty redhead?" Lorne questioned, playfully from his spot in one of Angel's arm chairs.

"This 'ere's Vi," Spike said as he nodded toward the redhead. "And she's a Slayer."

Xxxxxxxxxx

"Giles! Giles wake up!" Willow shook the Watcher by the shoulders.

Giles groaned and opened his eyes to see an anxious Willow leaning over him, a crossbow slung over her shoulder.

"Thank Goddess you're alive," Willow said as she gave Giles a brief hug before helping him to his feet.

"We've gotta move!" Xander commented urgently as he came running up to the two and began to usher them down the hallway.

Giles' head was killing him, otherwise he'd question what was going on. Instead he just concentrated on keeping up with Willow and Xander, and not passing out. After what seemed like forever, but was probably only a few minutes, Giles found himself being helped into a large van outside of the Council building.

"You look like shit, G," Faith remarked from her spot in the front passenger seat.

"How kind of you to notice," Giles replied as he rubbed his temples in a vain effort to rid himself of his headache.

"Maybe these will help." Faith handed Giles a bottle of water and some Tylenol, as Xander got into the driver's seat and started the van.

Giles took the Tylenol and then turned his attention back to the others in the van. "Where are we going?"

"We're supposed to meet Buffy at the airport and then we're going to the Council office in Bath," Xander informed.

Xxxxxxxxxx

"How bad were we hit?" Buffy asked as she and the others gathered in the conference room of the Bath branch of the Council.

"Every branch of the Council got attacked, including your house and presumably Vi's as well," Andrew informed. "Our staff took a serious hit, we're down to twenty-eight Watchers and fifteen council operatives."

"What about the girls?" Buffy asked.

"We don't know what's happened to the girls we hadn't contacted yet," Xander said.

"What about the ones we did contact?"

"We had close to three hundred living at the various Council branches, and now we only have about as many as we had back in Sunnydale, plus . . ." Willow let her sentence drift off and looked down at the table.

"Plus what?" Buffy asked.

Willow sighed and looked up at Buffy. "Something's wrong with their Slayer powers."

"What do you mean?"

"It's like they're going back to being just potentials."

"How's that even possible, Will?" Buffy asked. "I thought you activated all of them with the scythe?"

"I thought so too, but apparently we didn't read the fine print that said results may vary," replied the redhead. "And it might not be the scythe, things have been kooky lately. Something big's coming, Buffy, I can feel it."

"Judging by the number the Bringers did on us, not to mention the fact that we killed those guys already, I'd say the big bad's already here, Red," Faith commented as the phone rang.

Giles answered the phone and after a brief exchange of words he hung up and let out a weary, but relieved sigh.

"Who was that?" Buffy asked.

"Vi," Giles replied. "She's in Los Angeles with Spike and Angel."

Xxxxxxxxxx

To Be Continued . . .

Sorry it's taken so long to update. A note about the Slayers, Wesley said in _Damage_ that there's hundreds or thousands per generation. I'm going with hundreds for this story. Also, there are six branches of the Council, none of them are very large yet because the gang's just getting the Council back on it's feet. There's two in England with Giles (one in London and one in Bath), one in Rome with Buffy, one in Cleveland with Faith, one in Africa with Xander, and one in Brazil with Willow. I almost wiped out the Slayer line once again, because one writing about all the Slayers is time consuming and two, this'll help with the plot.

Love it? Hate it? Tell me what you think!


	2. So We Meet Again

Chaos Theory

Chapter 2: So We Meet Again

By: Rogue-Slayer13

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Btvs or Ats, they belong to their respective creators.

Summary: The world's being thrown into chaos and it seems like everything that the gang (Scoobies and AI) have worked so hard to make is coming apart at the seams. Can they get it together in time to prevent the apocalypse?

Note: I decided to revamp this fic cause it was kinda sucky. Some things you need to know: Cordelia woke up from her mystical coma earlier, Angel isn't working with the Circle of The Black Thorn yet, Fred is still herself, and Buffy's not with the Immortal.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Buffy and the others looked at Giles wide-eyed, jaws agape. Finally Xander shook his head and turned his attention to the Watcher.

"I don't think I quite heard you correctly, because I could've sworn you just said that Vi was in LA with Spike and Angel," Xander said.

"You heard me correctly, Xander," Giles commented.

"Then let me be the first to comment . . . _que_?" Xander looked at Giles questionably. "How can she be in LA with _Spike_ and Angel, emphasis on the Spike part? For one the two of them can't stand each other, and secondly Spike's dead?"

"I'm afraid I don't know any more about this then you do," Giles said as he began to clean his glasses. "Vi sounded as if she was in a hurry, but she said she could explain everything if we could come to Los Angeles."

"Uh yeah, I would say that this is definitely a let's-go-to-LA-time," Willow said.

"I'll go arrange the tickets," Andrew stated as he got to his feet and went to fetch his laptop. "Hey! We've got over a thousand frequent flyer miles!" Andrew smiled at the screen of his laptop.

Xxxxxxxxxx

"Now wait a hot second," Lorne said as he held up his hand. "How can this pretty lil' thing be a Slayer when Blondie and Faith already are?"

"Yeah, two's company, but three's a crowd," Gunn added.

"It's more like two's company and three hundred's a crowd," Spike corrected.

"This is so confusing," Fred commented with a shake of her head.

"It'll be easier to explain in the morning," Vi said as she hung up Angel's phone. "I called Buffy. She and the others will be here tomorrow."

"I think it'd be best if we all went home and got some sleep," Angel said. "We can meet back here in the morning when Buffy gets here."

"Vi, if you want, you can stay with me," Fred offered as she got to her feet.

Vi looked hesitantly at the group around her and that at the only familiar face, Spike's. "Can I just stay with Spike?" Vi asked. "I mean, since I already know him and everything."

Angel was about to protest when Cordelia shot him a look.

"I don't see what would be the problem with that," Cordelia said. "As long as Spike doesn't mind."

"Doesn't bother me," Spike replied with a shrug.

"Great, then let's plan on meeting back here, oh say, around ten maybe?" Cordelia suggested.

"That'll work," Gunn replied as he and the others filed out of the office.

"How could you let her stay with Spike?" Angel asked once he and Cordelia were alone. "I mean, Spike's . . . Spike for God sakes!"

"Yeah, and he's got a soul just like you," Cordelia replied. "Besides, she's never been to LA before and out of all of us, Spike's the only person she knows."

"But it's Spike," Angel protested.

"She'll be fine, Angel," Cordelia said as she put on her coat. "After all, Spike did live with all of the potentials in Buffy's house for several months, I'm sure he can handle one night with a Slayer sleeping on his couch."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Angel stepped out of his elevator and into his office to find Spike and Vi sitting on the couch playing a game of cards.

"Isn't she a bit young to be gambling?" Angel asked as he walked over to his desk and sat on the edge of it.

"We're not playing for money, Peaches," Spike replied as he discarded a card from his hand.

"Yeah, we're saving that for next week," Vi commented with a grin.

"I brought doughnuts," Lorne said with a smile as he walked into Angel's office carrying a large box of Krispy Kremes.

"Awesome!" Vi exclaimed as she sat down her cards and went to get a doughnut.

"I hope you brought enough for everyone," Cordelia commented with a smile as she came into the office followed closely by Fred and Wesley.

"Don't worry, I brought two dozen," Lorne assured as he sat down in a nearby chair.

"Where's Gunn?" Angel asked.

"Right here," Gunn said as he entered the office. "Buffy's in the lobby as we speak."

Sure enough, a few minutes after Gunn arrived Buffy and the others stepped into the office. Buffy had an expression of pissed off confusion, but it was quickly replaced by shock when she saw Spike sitting on the couch.

"Wow, so the rumors are true," Xander commented, equally as surprised as the others.

"Obviously," Spike replied.

"Now that we're all here, I believe we should discuss the problem of the recent attacks on the Slayer line," Wesley said, putting a stop to the flood of questions that was about to burst out of the mouths of the Scoobies. "We can talk about Spike's resurrection later."

"I agree with Wesley," Giles commented. "We have more pressing matters at hand and we should deal with them first."

"Why don't you start by filling us in on what happened in Sunnydale?" Cordelia suggested.

Buffy was about to reply when Andrew interrupted her.

"Gather around and attend to a most unusual tale . . . a tale I like to call . . . The Slayer of the Vampyres." Andrew paused as if in thought before continuing on. "Eons ago-"

"We don't need eons ago," Cordelia said, interrupting Andrew's speech. "We just need a few months ago."

Andrew looked crestfallen, but sighed and went on. "Very well," Andrew said. "Six months ago, Buffy, Vampyre Slayer extraordinaire, had her lesbian witch make with the beaucoup de magie. One light show later . . ."

"All the potentials become slayers," Angel finished.

"An army of slayers," Wesley commented. "A brilliant stratagem."

"At least it seemed like one at the time," Faith added from her spot next to Spike and Vi on the couch. "Now the Slayer's are losing their powers and we're in the same boat we were six months ago."

"So now we need to figure out how to get out of the boat and back on dry land," Dawn commented.

"I sense a bout of research coming on," Xander said. "Just tell me what to look for and I'll hit the books."

"Well that's the problem, isn't it?" Buffy asked. "None of us know exactly what's going on. I mean, we got rid of the First back in Sunnydale, but now its lackeys are back after us."

"You only thought you got rid of it back in Sunnyhell," Spike remarked, which drew everyone's attention to him.

"What do you mean? You of all people should know what a number we did on the Hell Mouth," Buffy said.

"You don't just get rid of something like the First," Spike informed as he lit a cigarette. "It's evil incarnate. No matter what you do, it's just gonna keep crawling back outta the depths of hell." Spike took a drag off of his cigarette.

"Wait a second," Andrew said as a thought suddenly came to him. "We're in the _exact_ same situation as we were in last time except on a much larger scale . . . and slightly in reverse." Andrew smiled brightly at his own logic.

"What are you talking about?" Dawn asked.

"Don't you guys get it?" Andrew asked which earned him blank stares from everyone else. "This entire apocalypse is nothing but a rerun playing in reverse. We've been here before and we know _exactly_ what's going to happen, _before_ it happens. Anybody else sense an advantage?"

"He's right, although his logic is certainly questionable," Giles commented.

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked.

"The First came around last time because there was more than one Slayer and that created an imbalance in the universe," Giles stated. "It then set about killing all of the potentials in an attempt to destroy the Slayer line."

"I get that, but where does the reverse rerun thing come in?" Xander asked.

"Last time we had a lot of girls with no power and then we gave them power," Andrew said. "Now we've got a lot of girls with power and they're losing their power. Hints the reverse part."

"And the rerun part?" Buffy asked.

"Things are almost following the exact course they took last time," Andrew said. "The First tries to attack the girls individually, then it starts going after the group as a whole."

"But that still doesn't explain why the girls' powers are going all wonky on us," Willow stated.

"That could have something to do with the imbalance of the universe," Wesley commented. "Perhaps it's the Powers That Be's way of restoring the balance."

"Whatever it is, we need to get the situation under control," Buffy said.

"Wes, you and Giles get the reference books from your office and have the group start researching everything they can about the First," Angel said. "Spike, you and I will hit the demon hang outs and see if anybody knows what's going on."

"I'll drive," Spike stated as he got up and headed for the door.

"Whoa," Xander commented.

"What?" Angel asked.

"Spike's actually doing what you asked," Xander said. "Normally you have to threaten bodily harm to get him to help."

"A lot's changed, Harris," Spike remarked as he headed out of the office with Angel in tow.

"I'll say a lot's changed, especially with Spike," Buffy stated once the two vampires had left.

"He saves the world and helps the helpless," Fred informed with a smile. "He's a champion now."

"I always knew he was," Buffy whispered with a smile as she cast one last glance in the direction the two vampires had gone before turning back to the group. "Let's hit the books."

"I'll go get the reference volumes from my office," Wesley said. "They'll give us access to every book in the archives."

Xxxxxxxxxx

To Be Continued . . .

Love it? Hate it? Tell me what you think!


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